Flight/Ground Ops, Crewing and DispatchA forum for the people who are engaged in operational control/flight dispatch/crewing and their colleagues airside in ramp dispatch, load control and ground handling, to discuss issues directly related to keeping their aircrew and aircraft operational.

Recently applied for ramp agent job for Jet2 at LBA, could anyone let me know what they are like to work for please, pay scales, shifts e.t.c, had yrs experience initially GHI, then servisair, PM me if preferred. Regards RM

cant imagine it to be a better contract with JET2 as they are a low cost airline therefore will try and cut costs werever possible however working for an actual airline you do get looked after better then working for a ground handling agent

and anyway you lads on the ramp at MAN servisiair have decent contracts well there better then our dispatch contracts anyway

why are they asking for every single 5-year history BEFORE an interview?

This can make good sense in this industry, if someone has a habit of changing jobs every six months and going traveling for 3 months here and 3 months there, it can be a nightmare to reference them due to the number of companies involved.

If you have 2 similarly qualified people, employ the one with less referencing . . .

I work in ground operations for Jet2 at LBA, its a really great place to work! Everything is done in house at LBA and everyone is part of one team. There are some really great guys on the ramp/dispatch/passenger services everyone has a laugh and the duty managers are really good to get on with, it really is one big team effort.

From a PSA's point of view the pay is better than servisair, and from what I understand the same goes for dispatch and ramp. The thing with Jet2 is that there is really never a quiet time, especially at LBA as they have a very varied network i.e Belfast, Amsterdam then Sharm, Tenerife etc so there is always a good flow of flights, they don't all leave at the same time (morning departures start at 7am through to 10am) so yes you might be busy then, but you are not working your arse off then doing nothing for 4 hours, as the early Amsterdam, Belfast get back late morning.

Shifts vary, and are under review for the coming summer but the principal shifts were 4on/4off (generally split shifts i.e. 6-12, 2-6) or 4on/2off (for PSA's the pattern was 4 earlies, 2 days off, 4 lates, 2 days off, 2 earlies etc etc and I think ramp follow a similar pattern)

As for the 5 year history before the interview, Jet2 do this for all their jobs, they are a very fast moving company. For me they had sourced my references three days after I had my interview, so I was able to start within two weeks. Waiting for the call from you're interview, then submitting your 5 year references will take at least two weeks, so it's another two weeks before you get them back, which if everything goes to plan that is a month's wait. It also helps filter out the numpties that DONT have 5 years worth of references and the plonkers that don't have the brains to fill in the application properly.

Sort of irrelevant, but the application process is ridiculous, why are they asking for every single 5-year history BEFORE an interview?

when i applied for my current job i only had to prove my last 5 years for security clearance to get an airside pass.. if you cant prove where you have been for the last 5 years it can be difficult to get cleared... only had to get 2 references which didn't have to be ex-employers for the actual job itself...

To put it simple, the 5 years is for your security pass (DfT regulations). Any gaps (over two weeks) and you won't get a pass. If Jet2 know this up front then they won't waste time with you.

If I were you I'd get a pen and paper and start writing down all the details of every company, school, college, Uni or wherever you've been in the last 5 years. Exact dates required aswell. Jet2 have to write to each place individually, so if there's a few then it may take some time. They're not looking for character references, at this stage, just proof that you were there for the dates given. Do all this and it will speed the process up and you'll get a pass nice and quick. Good luck.

Gaps of 2 weeks or more require a gap reference, whether it was looking for work (not claiming benefit), traveling or anything else which can not be varified by am amployer, school, colledge, uni or state benefits.

I have heard of gap references for people who were out of work for 18 months and not claiming benefit following redundancy as they didn't want to claim. This is fine as long as you can account for and have independantly verified what you were doing.

I have had two gaps (of approx 6months each) in which period I was claiming unemployment benefit.

I have also had a personal referee confirm these gaps, so hopefully they shouldn't be a problem.

Growing away from the topic a bit now, but once everything (CRC, GSAT, 5yr history etc) has been handed into to the BAA ID unit (at LHR), how long does it take them to process it? I'm expecting a security interview aswell I think, not sure what that involves

As long as you don't have a criminal records and you do everything correctly you'll have no problems getting an air side pass. My first was at an airport while I was still learning at college, I needed references for the past 5 years from school + college plus a personal reference for the gap between leaving school and starting college.

My employer basically left me to get all my own references and I wasn't sure exactly what was required which was why it took me months to get mine, but if your employer do all the phone calls you'll have no problems.

What is the difference between a turnaround manager and a ramp agent ? i have worked as both and the job was called a ramp agent but it was in reality a turnaround manager. Does the ramp agent now load the bags or supply the GPU etc ?